Elon Musk is becoming a welfare case. Federal auto-industry loans helped save his electric-car company, Tesla. Now Musk wants another federal bailout for his embarrassing space startup. And he may well get it.

The Red Planet beckons electric-car entrepreneur Elon Musk. He's hoping to put a man on Mars by 2020. Space fanboys are placing their dreams of getting off this rock on a slender reed.